Sen. Cantwell conspires to get healthy food in kids at Seattle event

JAKE ELLISO, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By JAKE ELLISON, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Updated 11:45 pm, Wednesday, February 19, 2014

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, center, and Seattle-area award-winning chefs, Maria Hines, back right, and 11-year-old Amber Kelley, left, chat with kids at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club during a demonstration on how to make healthy, kid-friendly meals with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Xavier, no last name given, enjoys a taco made with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Xavier, no last name given, enjoys a taco made with lentils and...

Seattle-area award-winning chef Maria Hines, center right, chats with kids at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club during a demonstration on how to make healthy, kid-friendly meals with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Seattle-area award-winning chef Maria Hines, center right, chats...

Sofia, right, no last name given, enjoys a taco made with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Sofia, right, no last name given, enjoys a taco made with lentils...

A cute kid-friendly meal made with lentils and chickpeas sits on display Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

A cute kid-friendly meal made with lentils and chickpeas sits on...

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell, center, and Seattle-area award-winning chef 11-year-old Amber Kelley, center left, laugh with kids at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club during a demonstration on how to make healthy, kid-friendly meals with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Tyrell, left, and Sir, right, no last names given, react to eating the veggies accompanying meals made with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Tyrell, left, and Sir, right, no last names given, react to eating...

Seattle-area award-winning chef Maria Hines, center, chats with kids at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club during a demonstration on how to make healthy, kid-friendly meals with lentils and chickpeas Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014, in Seattle. A newly-passed program in the Farm Bill intends to provide resources for school districts to serve more healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program Ð modeled after the Whole Grains program Ð will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.
Photo: JORDAN STEAD, SEATTLEPI.COM

Pushing healthy foods on kids is the work of saints. The rewards for their tireless efforts come in the form of independent healthy choices later in life and robust bio-units. And then the saints drift off to whatever heaven they want.

Well, there was a little grittier undergirding to a healthy-foods-for-kids event at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club Wednesday afternoon: Washington, D.C., politics.

Sen. Maria Cantwell is on a tour of the state, showing off parts of the 2014 Farm Bill — the $100 billion-a-year law that took several years of fighting, mostly over food stamps, to get through Congress — and she stopped in at the Boys and Girls Club to focus attention on a part of the bill that she sponsored.

The Pulse School pilot program is a $10 million program that helps schools across the country test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas. (Those make up "pulse crops.")

"We're very excited about this initiative, because it is about helping farmers in Washington state and it's about having people eat healthier," Cantwell said at the club during the opening speechifying.

She was joined at the podium by a few of the club kids and other officials as well as Amber Kelley — an 11-year-old who hosts her own cooking show, called "Cook With Amber" — and also Seattle chef Maria Hines, who owns the Tilth, Golden Beetle and Agrodulce restaurants.

"In second grade," Kelley said, when it was her turn at the podium, "lots of people started feeling pressure to bring in cool foods, because everyone else was bringing in cool foods. Unfortunately, healthy was not considered cool, which is a bummer ...

"But I knew that being healthy was cool, and I wanted everyone else to know that, so I decided to create a healthy cooking show called 'Cook With Amber.' Basically, it shows people — kids and adults — that being healthy is totally cool. It's really yummy, and it's super easy to make."

Sold!

Meghan Sweet, the club's director, said her shop was a good place to talk about the healthy food initiative because 150 kids come in for their free after-school program.

"We serve a wide range of kids, from kindergarden through 12th grade and from a variety of social and cultural backgrounds, but one thing they all have in common when they get off the bus is that they are all starving, not just hungry but starving," she said.

"Simply telling kids to eat well is pretty ineffective as a way to teach them, so we're excited and grateful for today's hands-on demonstration. We know from a lot of trial and error here at the club, that the more you can get kids involved in the cooking process, the more likely they are to try and enjoy new foods."

Then the news conference broke up and we all joined more kids in watching a demonstration by Kelley. She made a hummus-based "pepper octopus" and then the kids made tacos from turkey, lentils, cheese, cabbage ("red, colorful, really fun"), olives and salsa.

You can see all the fun in the gallery above.

A very composed and well-spoken Kelley said of the event: "It's awesome, because all these kids know that being healthy is cool now. If they didn't know already."

Here's the news release from Cantwell's office with more details and background:

U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) will join two Seattle-area award-winning chefs and the Seattle Public Schools Nutrition Director on Wednesday to demonstrate new pea-and-lentil recipes that could be on more Washington state school menus, under a new program created in the Farm Bill that passed Congress this month.

The Farm Bill includes the Cantwell-authored Pulse School Pilot program, which will provide resources to schools to serve healthy lunches. The $10 million pilot program – modeled after the Whole Grains program – will enable schools across the country to test out new recipes and purchase more Washington-grown peas, lentils and chickpeas.

On Wednesday, Cantwell will join award-winning chefs Maria Hines and Amber Kelley to test out new kid-friendly recipes using peas and lentils. The chefs will cook for a group of 25 kids at the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club.

Hines is the winner of the 2009 James Beard Award for Best Chef Northwest. She opened her first restaurant, Tilth, in Wallingford in September 2006. Hines also owns two other restaurants in Seattle: Golden Beetle and Agrodulce. She has appeared on "Top Chef Masters" and "Iron Chef."

Kelley is an 11-year old chef who hosts "Cook With Amber," an online show focusing on healthy dishes. In 2013 Kelley visited the White House for the Kids' State Dinner as the Washington state winner of First Lady Michelle Obama's "Healthy Lunchtime Challenge" to promote healthy meals for kids.

Also joining Cantwell and the chefs at Wednesday's demonstration are Wendy Weyer, the Director of Nutrition Services for Seattle Public Schools and Tim McGreevy, CEO of the USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council. Director Weyer will highlight why it's important for students to have healthy meal options and McGreevy will discuss how the growing popularity of pulse crops helps create thousands of jobs across Washington state, including at 22 processors in Eastern Washington.

Washington state is the top chickpea producer in the nation – producing nearly half of the nation's total. Washington is 3rd in the nation for pea and lentil production.

The Farm Bill was signed into law on February 7. Cantwell has been a leader in the push for passage of the Farm Bill that supports agriculture jobs in Washington and across the nation. In 2012, she and Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) led a bipartisan letter with 44 senators urging action on a Farm Bill.

The Pulse School Pilot provision – authored by Cantwell – authorizes the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to invest $10 million through 2017 to purchase pulse crops to use in school breakfasts and lunches. This could include raw beans and lentils as well as foods made from pulse crops, such as hummus. Flours made from pulse crops could also be added to breads, tortillas and pastas to enhance their nutritional value.

At the conclusion of the Pulse School Pilot, the U.S. Department of Agriculture will determine the program's effectiveness by measuring increases in student consumption of pulse crops, identifying pulse crops students prefer and determining how pulse crops change nutritional levels in school meals. The Pulse School Pilot is modeled after the successful 2008 Whole Grains Pilot program, which helped the USDA purchase five million pounds of whole grain pancakes and tortillas for schools.

Chickpea acreage in Washington state has exploded from fewer than 10,000 acres in the year 2000 to nearly 80,000 acres in 2012. A main driver of increased demand for chickpeas in the last decade has been increased demand for hummus. Retail sales of hummus are projected to have increased to $250 million in 2013, up from $192 million in 2007 and $5 million in 1997.

Washington state has 1,000 farm families producing pulse crops. The value of pea, lentil and chickpea shipments handled via the ports of Seattle and Tacoma reached nearly $130 million in 2011 – up from roughly $5 million in 2001.

The Farm Bill also includes Cantwell's Pulse Health Initiative, which would support $25 million per year over five years in pulse crop health research to help increase public demand and drive job growth. The research would look into the health and nutrition benefits of pulse crops, including their ability to reduce obesity and associated chronic diseases. The initiative would support technical expertise to help food companies use nutrient-dense pulse crops in their products as well as establish an educational program to encourage the consumption and production of pulse crops.